“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
– Psalm 50:7-15

God did not need their sacrifices.  Every animal already belonged to him; indeed the entire world is his.  Nor did he eat and drink their sacrifices.  And if he was hungry, he didn’t need their help.  God didn’t need their sacrifices.

Nor does God need us.  He doesn’t need our service.  He doesn’t need our ministry.  He doesn’t need us at all.  He can accomplish his will without us.  God doesn’t need us.

But we do need him.  He tells us to call upon him in the day of trouble.  In the midst of the trial, the struggle, the temptation, the pain, the sickness, the loss – we are to call upon him.  We need his help.  And he will help us.

He doesn’t need us.  We need him.  He doesn’t need us, but he does want something from us.  Thanksgiving.  He wants us to be thankful for his help.  He wants us to glorify him, honor him, praise him for all that he has done for us.  In other words, he wants our hearts.  He wants grateful hearts. 

And grateful hearts will sacrifice and serve, not because God needs those things, but because we want to do those things.  And that is what God wants – not mere actions but our wanting to sacrifice and serve in gratitude to him and for his glory.